“The Sacrificial Lamb”: Representations of Trans Feminine Bodies in American Horror and Comedy Film of the AIDS Crisis

Abstract

This paper covers the use of trans feminine bodies place in processing externalized and internalized elements of fear and visibility through horror and comedy genre films during the peak of the AIDS epidemic in the eights and nineties. analyzing the implications of using trans women's body imagery to express different aspects of empowerment and accessibility of trans and cis audiences alike. the ultimate goal of the paper will be to acknowledge where these films in their perspective genres were pioners for trans women representation and what this means for the contemporary and future obligation of cinema trans narratives.